Another weird day, maybe sunny and humid, maybe rainy and humid, maybe just overcast and humid. Had all of those yesterday…
Got some real progress on my install yesterday and hope to get the bulk finished today. There are a couple of things I haven’t even considered getting started on with the other issues. Those can wait though for next year.
I feel the approaching holiday coming like a freight train. We still don’t have a tree up and we still don’t have all the lights I want to hang up. And like Epstein, those danged lights don’t hang themselves… I am in a very weird mental place as a result.
The kids are getting weirded out by it too. Not good.
I really like the Christmas season, and it’s strange to not be feeling it this year.
Maybe after this weekend…
n
{stack all the things}
In the US, it is the United Way … who fund the Red Cross here IIRC.
Work a tech job in the US in the early-80s to mid-90s, and the screws were always applied to donate to the United Way. The C suite occupants loved their “Man of the Year” awards. There were so many of those events in Tampa during that time that Outback Steakhouse bought the Shriners big meeting hall near the airport to serve as a year-round venue.
The legend is that Mary Gates serving on the national-level United Way board with IBM CEO John Akers landed BillG the contact which eventually led to the DOS deal.
About 25 years ago, someone in the mainstream media (they actually tried to do their jobs back then) exposed that more than 50% of the United Way collections went to “marketing expenses” and events like “Man of the Year”, and, suddenly, the pressure was off to donate at work.
Of course, it could have been BillG’s competition who funded the research for the hit pieces, but, regardless, a great service was done for the tech workers of the US.
We have one spring of lights up. Wife doesn't want a tree this year. We've mostly stopped with presents, except the consumable kind.
Anyway I can't take off until the 24th, by which time I will want to just be a vegetable for a few days.
Hmmm…maybe I can apply to be the Grinch?
For those of you who are struggling to escape the clutches of Westgate and/or took up my recommendation of "The Queen of Versailles" on Netflix — it looks like the house *still* isn't done.
Party guests turn over cell phones?!? Paranoid much?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRBcdBte0uo
BTW, the neighborhood is Windermere, former home of Tiger Woods and planned retirement community of Derek Chauvin … if he ever gets out of prison before he dies … which is doubtful.
Now do you understand why the system, particularly the police union, threw Chauvin under the bus? What is your retirement looking like?
@Greg Norton
"a great service was done for the tech workers of the US."
And workers in a lot of other sectors.
"Now do you understand why the system, particularly the police union, threw Chauvin under the bus? What is your retirement looking like?"
Chauvin's plans for retirement have nothing to do with me, and I have no idea what multiple sources of funding he may have used.
I do know that he was not guilty of the charges as brought, and I can cite dozens of cases where perps of inconvenient color could have been charged by fedgov to better effect.
@Brad
"Hmmm…maybe I can apply to be the Grinch?"
Please submit photos of co-applicant dog with certified ruler in frame for scale.
I'm not passing judgement as much as pointing out that the system threw him under the bus for a reason. I doubt that Chauvin’s is the only condo with a Minneapolis return address on the title.
Still, the police do have a vested interest in the status quo. As I've posted before, Austin cops were playing mask enforcement kabuki at my local Sam's one afternoon recently, when Omicron first started popping.
Think cops wouldn't enforce a vaccine mandate door-to-door? This time last year, regulars here were posting about personally holding down the unwilling for the jab.
I’m still waiting for the knock on my door, BTW.
I thought it was just me not being in the Christmas spirit this year. We did get the tree up the day after Thanksgiving, but didn't decorate until Sunday evening. It took me a little longer to do the outside lights this year. I changed things up and made some frames to hold lights for each front window that mount on the inside. They stay in place with a couple zip ties to the window blind frames. 2 frames per double window x 8 took a little bit. Now next year will take 10 minutes to deploy. I also broke me rule on connected devices and bought two 4 packs of enbrighten connected plugs at Lowes. They were on sale for 10 bucks a pack. They work well and turn on and off right on time. I do have them on a separate vlan that can't see my main network though.
My prayers for your mother's recovery and for her willpower to do the hard tasks that recovery will need, and for your father during this crisis. Additional prayers that she receive perfect care in the nursing home…. I hope you and your father will be allowed complete freedom to visit at will. She needs that. Travelling mercies for everyone during the going back and forth.
72F upon rising this morning, 71F atm. 92%RH has increased to 94%RH. Joy.
Found this in my inbox this morning.
The threat is almost as effective as the action at disruption and expense.
n
This is apparently an architectural/design firm that builds prisons…
https://www.dlrgroup.com/sector/justice/
Healing through Trauma-Informed Design
https://www.dlrgroup.com/work/oregon-youth-authority-maclaren-campus/
What the everloving what??
n
We got an email about that from the school system last night. Also got the school system robocall about it. This morning my son's school principal emailed saying anyone who wanted to stay home today could take exams remotely (today is the last day of the semester). She also stated traffic in the halls would be limited and there would be extra police on site.
Wow. In the train on the way home. I'm in a set of seats (4 on each side) with a guy and his three daughters. maybe 3, 6 and 8. In the next row, there's a woman and two more girls, probably mom and the rest of the monkey troop. "Papa play this with me", "Papa can you read this", "Papa…". It's a train that goes from Germany to Italy, they've already been here a good while – probably from somewhere deep in Germany (not a Southern dialect), on their way to Winter vacation.
Despite games and books, the girls are very bored. Lots of strength of character in Papa – he's wrangling them pretty damned well.
I also have to smile: even small kids have trouble with German declensions. He's been correcting a few things his small daughter says. Der, die, das, dem, den, des – it's a mess, though it is a mess with a purpose.
Some people should probably be feeling chagrin for their reaction to calling the JJ&j vaccine the "Clotshot."
n
Life insurance is only needed while employed to provide some money to the family in case the primary bread winner perishes. Long term disability insurance is generally only good for 5 years, the Medicaid look-back period. It is basically designed to shield assets from the state. Use those five years to transfer the money into someone else's name so the afflicted person has no assets. There are better and cheaper ways to shield that money from the state.
I donate to my church, but specific designations. I do not like the global missionary programs in which the church participates. The church has had money difficulties for some time, as do a lot of churches. My opinion is that if you cannot pay your own bills don't go paying other people's bills.
We did donate a small part of the MIL's estate to one of her nieces as the niece's grandson has significant medical problems and will for life. A little extra money over Christmas may make a difference in their lives as they are strapped due to medical expenses. I think the MIL would have approved. A much more worthwhile use of the money in my opinion than supporting CEOs at Red Cross or woke platforms at Salvation Army.
When I was in the USAF the pressure was immense to have a deduction from the pay to United Way. 100% participation was the goal. What I thought was private always made its way up the food chain to higher levels of command. Which usually resulted in a visit to their office. I would relent, sign up, then two weeks later rescind the sign up. That way upper command thought I really participated when I really didn't. Pay after that point was private and supervisors and up did not have access to that information.
I loathed United Way, Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc. Years before a member of my family had a significant divorce event that put them on the street. Applications to all of those organizations resulted in no help. The family member recovered and is doing quite well now. But the memory of those organizations lack of anything still sticks. I guess if my family member had been black, illegal immigrant, they might have gotten help.
Yep, you're not a special cupcake. I have not really had the Christmas spirit since I was 15 years old. I had done something that pissed my uncle off a couple of days before Christmas. He took all my Christmas gifts and sold or destroyed them as lesson to me. Christmas morning I sat alone in another room while the rest of the family opened gifts and enjoyed themselves. He singlehandedly destroyed Christmas for me for the next few dozen years. That memory sticks in my head like zits on Hillary's butt. There have been a few good years, some bright spots, but this year is not one of them.
The bright spot this year is that a former exchange student who considers us her second set of parents will be arriving for the holidays. Just a coincidence that it is over Christmas and not really related to Christmas.
–no conspiracy to shape the world's response though, none. Couldn't happen. Someone would spill the beans, right?
Well, what if the damage has already been done when the beans finally spill?
n
LOL:
Man kicked off United Airlines flight at FLL for wearing women’s underwear as mask
My point exactly on *standards*. No gators allowed, but I see them. Giant beards that in no way allow a mask to be effective, no problem. Masks below the nose, above the chin all the time, no problem. I doubt people using the bathroom on the plane keep their mask on. Contaminate the whole plane. Cloth masks are useless, but that is OK. This has to end.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10320045/Harvard-drop-ACT-SAT-scores-entry-requirements-2027-COVID-19.html
–it'll be years, if ever, before woke Harvard reinstates test score requirements.
n
Johnson & Johnson is being taken to the woodshed for something. The fatalities and serious illnesses were mostly women under 50, and the issue has been known for a while.
It wouldn't surprise me if cigarettes were a factor with the clotting, as they are with birth control pills, but that isn't going to get any discussion in this country in the current political environment.
As I’ve noted before, I worked with a girl who died from clotting while taking birth control pills. The doctors told her to stop smoking due to the risk, but, of course, her body her choice, and she didn’t take their advice.
If required, I'd take the J&J vaccine before I would consider Moderna. Pfizer is off my personal list.
From my FEMA daily brief.
n
And in other news on the MIL estate.
The money from Vanguard was transferred to an account in my wife's name. We are transferring the money out of that account to combine with the rest. Vanguard cannot wire the money only send a check. It will take a week.
The annoying part is that Vanguard will not withhold 20% as it is not an account that allows that action. I do not know for certain if the money is pre-tax or post-tax. If it is pre-tax was that distribution of the funds tied to the MIL's account and must be reported to the IRS under her SSN? Or if the money is pre-tax will the reporting be under the executor account? Or will the wife be stuck with the entire amount?
This has significant tax consequences. In all cases that money owed to the IRS will be significantly more than what has been withheld during the year. This will trigger a penalty due to not enough withholding. Withholding for whom is the question. It is also not reasonable for the IRS to add penalties when the funds were not made available until the last two weeks of the year. It is impossible to determine what is due to the IRS.
I could send in the money with a 1041_V but to which entity? The MIL account, the executor account or the wife's account? Will this be another battle I have to fight with the IRS?
NOAA Space Weather is predicting minor impacts (R1) on HF radio tonight, mostly in south america and africa.
n
@ray, you had a really shitty childhood. That has impacts on you and those around you for the rest of your life, which you probably know to the bone. Have you had any help dealing with those effects? I'm not a big booster for the squishy "sciences" and consider most practitioners charlatans, but there are pros out there that have really helped people. If not a pro, then some support group?
We know a lot more about the physiological effects and what they do to mental state than we used to, and there are approaches that are reported to help…
n
John Clerse doesn't put up with BBCBS:
No, no professional help. For years I kept everything bottled up, would not talk about it. Then one day after my aunt had died I decided it was time to do something. I started a project that consumed several weeks. I created a document that detailed the abuse, verbal, physical and sexual, that I endured over the course of 10 years. That really helped and now I can talk about the past.
I made certain that all living family members got a copy of the document. I also sent the document to former neighbors and friends I had while growing up. All were appalled at what took place. One set of neighbors said they knew something was wrong but could do nothing. After reading the document they said they wish they had known as they would have removed me from the home, forcibly if necessary.
At the last class reunion in 2019 (50 years) I was able to tell my classmates some of the issues. The complete resistance to dressing out for gym and wearing of long sleeve shirts when it was 90 degrees. That was to hide the bruises on my body, sometimes several in different locations. The missed days at school. Staying after school to avoid going home. Walking home 14 miles rather than take the bus as it got me home later. The many times wrinkled clothes with straw bits from sleeping in the barn.
My parents basically gave me away. I was an accident. After the divorce neither parent wanted me around as I was in the way of their social life. Living with my aunt and uncle on the farm gave my uncle cheap labor which he really needed. It was a win-win for the parents and the aunt and uncle.
Truth be told, even with the abuse, I was better off with my aunt and uncle than living in Southern California with my mother. My mother would have ignored me and left me on my own. Probably for days at a time. A bad idea for a kid in that era. I would have gotten into things I should not have participated. Prison would not have been out of the question. My father wanted nothing to do with his kids unless he wanted something in return. At least on the farm I was isolated and any trouble I got into just involved the farm. I was kept active and had no real time for extra-curricular activities.
I had clean clothes. I had good food. I had a place to sleep even if was sometimes the barn. Actually, in the summer it was a good place to sleep, winter not so much. I learned to operate heavy machinery and was quite good. I was able to make some money as I did get a good allowance and did some work on neighboring farms. I learned responsibility, a work ethic. All things I would not have learned in California.
Can you pay the lawyer for an hour of his time to answer the questions?
With my father-in-law's estate, the lawyer handled the tax issues, but I have my doubts whether my sister-in-law paid her fair share. Biological issues. Harvard Law graduate meets ex-stripper. Hilarity ensues.
When my mother-in-law passes, my wife will not accept the executor responsibility. There is too much we don’t know.
There was a lot we did not know. We were fortunate there was no real property, just investment accounts, certificates and cash accounts. It was the legal hoops that were daunting. A system designed by lawyers to enrich lawyers.
I was glad we were able to sell the car. Illegally using the power of attorney as that document is invalid on the person’s death. Otherwise we would have needed to let the car sit. We could not transfer the title to the wife’s name. We could not get insurance as MIL was deceased. Thus car legally could not be driven. Letting a car sit in storage would have cost money.
Same with the hours. We were fortunate to sell before she passed. Leaving a house empty in San Antonio, south side, we would have been left with a destroyed hulk.
The companies with the funds and investments make it really difficult. Whether through laws or in-house procedures it is difficult. Next challenge is the IRS. IRS 1041? Never heard of it until now.
I will rephrase. There is a lot that we don't know in which various individuals have a vested stake in us never figuring out as long as they don't need a signature or a check.
Just not knowing is easy compared to things people are actively trying to hide.
You just gotta LOL. Here's plugs again with the Black entrepreneurs are too stupid…
Joe Biden to HBCU grads: Black and white entrepreneurs can both succeed, ‘except the black entrepreneur usually doesn’t have a lawyer’ [video]
When are Blacks going to figure out Dumbocrats aren't with them.
@Nick – Mint 19.3 runs really smoothly on the new Ryzen 5600X machine I built for my daughter.
I will eventually install Windows 10 on that machine.
I'm simultaneously doing the new build and a rehab on another box where I keep Mint 19.3.
Read quals and testimony of defense use of force expert:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/12/daunte-wright-shooting-trial-day-7-defense-expert-forcefully-backs-potter/
Re: WordPress hack – it's more of a WordPress plugin attack, not directly against the WP core code. And those plugins aren't used here – or on any other site I manage.
Besides, the plugins were updated to fix the vulnerability. And I do a daily check and install of the latest plugin and theme updates (and WP cord) every day.
No worries.
I do note that WordPress code is claimed to be running on 43% of web sites.
The WYZE outdoor camera saga continues. This time with good results.
I decided to try one more time, you know, the definition of insanity. I am leaving for Atlanta Sunday so figured to give the WYZE cameras the benefit of the doubt and try one last time.
I was able to pair the base station just as before with the cameras being the stumbling block before. Base station is hard wired to the network same as before, same exact location.
With the cameras in the same location as the multiple failed events, this time the cameras paired easily within about 30 seconds. I moved the cameras to their final locations, checked the video, and all looks good. The wireless signal is strong, the video looks good. I will check them again at night.
Bad timing on my part and WYZE's part. I got caught in their system failure, which still does not make me feel warm and fuzzy.
Regardless, the cameras seem to work where desired. They are much cheaper than ARLO. I can buy three WYZE cameras for the price of one ARLO. ARLO also requires their special charger even though it is a USB cable ARLO is using the signal lines to detect their chargers. WYZE just uses any USB power source. Another plus.
I have four ARLO PRO 2 cameras still installed. I did consider replacing all of them with WYZE cameras. It is hard to toss working devices so for now I think I will just stay with two video security systems.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I had already tried all of the suggestions, but it never hurts to have a second, or third, brain involved. Might find something I overlooked or jog another thought. Many a time while coding and something did not work, I would grab another coder for help. I would start explaining the code, then a light bulb would light, and I would tell the other coder to go away. Looking at something from a different perspective, explaining differently, really does work.
My prayers for your mother's recovery and for her willpower to do the hard tasks that recovery will need, and for your father during this crisis. Additional prayers that she receive perfect care in the nursing home…. I hope you and your father will be allowed complete freedom to visit at will. She needs that. Travelling mercies for everyone during the going back and forth.
Mom is going into the nursing home that is inside Methodist Hospital in the Houston Medical Center. She is just so weak and frail. And does not want to eat anything, it all looks bad to her. I tried to feed her some chicken broth last night, she took a sip and that was that. They will get serious about the physical therapy in the skilled nursing. There is a former Marine Corps Drill Instructor over there who will not take no for an answer.
Isn't that a textbook example of terrorism?
https://eng.ua.edu/epic/
University of Alabama Engineering Positive and Intentional Change (EPIC) Scholars Program. Somehow, I don't think the justice they are promoting is reasonable work hours or proper staffing levels.
https://eng.ua.edu/epic/
University of Alabama Engineering Positive and Intentional Change (EPIC) Scholars Program. Somehow, I don't think the justice they are promoting is reasonable work hours or proper staffing levels.
"The EPIC Scholars Program will develop a diverse network of engineering and computer science leaders who advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion and justice in the engineering and computer science professions."
I see a requirement coming on all large software programs, especially where federal monery and/or standards are present, to have one or twenty of these people on site.
BTW, these people will not know how to program or the difference between the north end of a computer from the south end of the computer. But they will add language to all design and specification documents, wasting everyone's time and money. I predict more software project failures.
Words like master, slave, and several others will be maliciously hunted out and destroyed. The word “server” is on the precipice of being canceled. Also, everyone on the team will have their background checked by this person for appropriateness in the new reality.
Somehow I don't think their graduates can be relied on to have an epic level of skill.
Re Wyze cams – all of my cameras came online without any extra efforts, except the doorbell cam.
Wyze proactively sent out emails to all registered users advising to reset the doorbell. And I did, a quick and painless process. Doorbell cam is working as it should.
Still a Wyze fan. Great cams (v3 cams have great color and resolution), great prices, app works well to monitor, and motion alerts work great. Get some occasional motion problems with the bushes on windy days, but that's minimized due to setting the motion detection area.
"2022 Ford Maverick XLT Review" by Jerry Reynolds
https://www.carprousa.com/vehicle-reviews/2022-ford-maverick-xlt-review
“Fuel economy is 22 city and 29 highway. The hybrid I’ll have next week is rated at 40 in town, we’ll know soon if it will actually do that. Total MSRP on this XLT is $31,910 loaded, but the base price is around $22,000 with transportation, making it a great value.”
Interesting if you want a small truck. Still $32K fairly loaded. I suspect that the hybrid version gets major mileage. He is going to review one next week.
Future "Scrum Masters".
I'm not kidding about the title.
My wife's friend who does that at [major defense contractor] was an English major who failed to reach grad school the normal way at an in-state program due to a 600 combined V+Q GRE. Old school GRE when that correlated to an IQ in the mid 80s.
Of course, that didn't stop Boston University from offering her a slot their Masters program, but scholarship money was not on the table due to the contingency admission.
I have not talked to her directly since she got the Scrum Master gig, but my wife says the girl doesn’t understand why the actual developers don’t like her.
I received nothing from WYZE. Everything quit working, at almost exactly the same time I moved the cameras. I had checked the cameras before I moved the cameras, then after installed in the final location nothing worked. Climb ladder and remove cameras, move closer to base station, tried to reset, deleted all devices from the app, added back in the base station, cannot add cameras, tried for a couple of hours with researching on the web. Nothing about an outage or any email from WYZE. Not a good experience with really bad (or good) timing.
I will see how it goes for a few weeks. By then I will be stuck with the cameras as I will be beyond the 30 day return period. Son has three of the cameras, indoor models, and likes them. His have power to the camera all the time, doesn't record, just uses for monitoring his kids rooms.
I have memory cards in each camera and the base station, 16 gig. Maximum size is 32 gig which indicates they are using FAT rather than FAT32 for file formatting. Should not be a big deal as I don't plan on recording much or keeping recordings for long periods of time.
The outage by AWS affecting WYZE really does drive home the vulnerability of placing stuff in the cloud and relying on another vendor. A vendor which may not have the same priorities as the user in times of trouble.
Unibody, not body on frame.
And Hecho en Mexico, on the same assembly line as the Bronco Sport.
3700 lbs. Little beater pickups like the old Ranger used to be 3000 lbs. *Very* light towing.
@Ray – I assume that you registered the cameras with Wyze, and included your email address. And that their emails aren't being 'lost' in your 'scam mail' bucket.
I get emails from Wyze all the time .. mostly marketing stuff, but sometimes the invite to get the first shipments of newly released products.
And their support forum is user-bases, so actual support from Wyze guys is not always there. But, several emails from them about the outage.
>> We got an email about that from the school system last night. Also got the school system robocall about it. This morning my son's school principal emailed saying anyone who wanted to stay home today could take exams remotely (today is the last day of the semester).
Maybe a bit far-fetched but was this some kids with borderline grades knowing that floating these threats for the last day of school would result in the remote exam option which would allow them the opportunity to cheat?
"How Long Do Disk Drives Last?" by Andy Klein
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/how-long-do-disk-drives-last/
So after five years, have a proactive replacement plan for spinning disk drives.
>> Life insurance is only needed while employed to provide some money to the family in case the primary bread winner perishes. Long term disability insurance is generally only good for 5 years, the Medicaid look-back period. It is basically designed to shield assets from the state. Use those five years to transfer the money into someone else's name so the afflicted person has no assets. There are better and cheaper ways to shield that money from the state.
Some amount of life insurance is also a good idea for the non (or secondary) bread winner if there are minor children in the family. In essence, if the non bread winner dies you may need the insurance proceeds to replace the stay-at-home parent with paid child care.
Regarding long term disability insurance, are you perhaps meaning long term care insurance? Two different products. LTD covers you when you are not able to work due to some disability. LTC covers skilled nursing facilities. The former may be offered by your employer while the latter is usually individually purchased (and iirc fairly expensive right now).
“Biden ‘deeply troubled’ by Kellogg’s plan to replace striking workers”
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-deeply-troubled-by-reports-kellogg-replacing-striking-workers-2021-12-10/
“WASHINGTON, Dec 10 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said he was “deeply troubled” by Kellogg Co’s(K.N) plans to hire permanent replacements for striking unionized employees after they voted down a proposed contract this week.”
“Biden, who has put unions at the center of his policymaking, said such actions undermine the critical role collective bargaining plays in giving workers a voice.”
“”Permanently replacing striking workers is an existential attack on the union and its members’ jobs and livelihoods. I have long opposed permanent striker replacements and I strongly support legislation that would ban that practice,” Biden said in a statement.”
Bite me Biden ! Workers do not get to set their duties and wages at a business. If the company and the workers cannot agree then the workers need to go find new jobs.
And I want my Rice Krispies !
>> We know a lot more about the physiological effects and what they do to mental state than we used to, and there are approaches that are reported to help…
One that you might not hear enough about is EMDR. Can be very effective for victims of childhood trauma and abuse.
I know first-hand of several people that were not progressing through "talk" therapy who were helped using EMDR.
I always go for the warranty expiration. That said, both my home server and primary desktop are overdue.
I usually keep the old drives as backup for about a year then send them for disposal, but the animal shelter hasn't held their semi annual document and media destruction event with Balcones since Covid started.
Maybe this March. The event raises a *lot* of money for the shelter in one day. The limit is 5 file boxes of paper and … 10 … disk drives. Don’t quote me.
Someone asked about fundraiser events here recently. There’s one idea.
UPDATE: Doh! I missed the latest shred event. Gotta pay attention.
https://www.roundrocktexas.gov/event/shred-for-a-paws-cause/
The Spring event usually corresponds with Spring Break.
I meant long-term disability but may have been mistaken. The dad in the family was self-employed, mostly artistic and musical gig work, and when he was hospitalized (got the Chinese Crud early in the dempanic, when hospitalization was the norm even for mild symptoms) and then when he picked up the flesh-eating crud in the hospital he was unable to work and thus provide an income for the family. Some kind of income-replacement insurance would have helped a lot. That said, I have no idea what that would cost for a self-employed arts type.
Future "Scrum Masters".
s/Scrum Masters/Commissars/g
"The 26 Best Middle Grade Science Fiction Books" by Dan Livingston
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/the-26-best-middle-grade-science-fiction-books/
I have read "Ender's Game", "A Wrinkle In Time", and "The Giver" out of the 26.
I would add Heinlein’s juveniles to this list. Specifically, “Citizen Of The Galaxy” and “The Star Beast”.
https://www.amazon.com/Citizen-Galaxy-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0345342445/
“When Is An Hypothesis Not An Hypothesis? When it's the Solutrean Hypothesis.” by Michael Z. Williamson
https://www.baen.com/solutrean_hypothesis
"I’ve done a lot of research on the Upper Paleolithic recently, for my novels A Long Time Until Now, That Was Now, This is Then, and for an upcoming third."
"I have several friends enamored of this hypothesis, and I’m not sure why. Pretty much no credible researchers like it, and I find it utterly uncompelling on every level. I looked at it again after a recent debate. I like it less every time I look at it."
"It summarizes like this: The Solutrean Culture of the area that is now France and Spain, (22,000-17,000 BP) used overshot flaking to shape their flint tools, and as of the proposal date, were the first culture to do so. Clovis points (13,200 BP) of the Americas also used overshot flaking. Lots of Clovis points are found in the Eastern U.S., therefore, the Solutreans must have travelled across the Atlantic, and settled there 3800 years later with the same technology. In support, it is argued that the oldest settlement sites in the Americas are in the Eastern U.S."
"That's it."
Yes, I did. Nothing in my spam folder.
I've been cleaning the EDC. Clutter, mostly. "It goes out there, take it there and set it down". The weevils? Yeah, I don't know.
I vacuumed the heck out of the place, even behind the freezers with my old canister vac. Tossed a few bulgy cans. Like, three. For lack of anything better I sprayed Raid Flea Killer on the way out. Foaming Wasp Spray is messy, just saying. Then the next day, yesterday, kicked off the flips at the door and the floor is gritty. Smells like Raid…. so, win for air tightness. A better win is dead weevils on the window sills.
Ran the broom-stick vac today. Blew off mopping the floor. Dumped several bottles of salad dressing down the drain. Then ran a few sink's full of water to flush the drain.
The drain is a 2½ black poly pipe. 100, 150 feet long. It goes out to one of the run-off ditches. I forget. It's been almost 30 years. The only problem ever has been tree roots growing into the outlet… twice so far.
The salad dressing expired in 2016. I stocked up but being contrary, as soon as I did, Mom never wanted another salad. Ever. Shrug. The Italian was dark and just a wee bit on the rancid oil side. Tasted fine otherwise. The other flavors went down the drain untested.
Such an exciting life……
For extra weirdness, Windows Update has had an Important Update of 350 or so Mb file that has never managed to complete and install. I looked and yes, I have the required updates the update required. And then today, after almost two years, it worked. Downloaded and wanted a re-boot.
What?
Win7. Home. SP1. Your mileage etc. ….
Installing Windows 7 SP1 clean and then updating got really hairy near the end of life for the OS. I used WSUS Offline Update until they pulled the plug on support.
https://download.wsusoffline.net/
I still have one of the last update collections around if you need it. Mid 2018? It will get you most of the way to being fully updated with only a few missing KBXXXXXX numbers.
"Biden Holds a Losing Hand" December 17, 2021 by Patrick J. Buchanan
https://buchanan.org/blog/biden-holds-a-losing-hand-158860
"In Biden’s first year, migrants have been crossing at a rate of close to 2 million a year. Scores of thousands of “got-aways” — unknown homeland invaders who evade any contact with U.S. authorities — have vanished into our population since Biden took office."
"And they are coming now not only from Mexico and the Northern Triangle — Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador. They are coming from every continent and every country on earth. We are becoming what President Teddy Roosevelt warned America would become if it failed to manage its immigration well — “a polyglot boarding house for the world.”"
@Nick
The Lancet is the sun source for the anti-vax movement. They published the seminal research–peer-reviewed, doncha know?–and it wasn't until years later, and only after a mere journalist revealed the scam, that the useless flocks retracted.
I feel the approaching holiday coming like a freight train. We still don’t have a tree up and we still don’t have all the lights I want to hang up.
When I was a kid, some of my relatives put up their their Christmas tree on Christmas eve and took it down twelve days later. Same for all the other decorations. It’s an old tradition sadly lost in today’s commercial world.
On another note, we tried to buy some hooded swim towels for our nephew’s kids during the Thanksgiving holiday. My wife likes to shop in brick and mortar stores. Store after store told us they didn’t carry such things in the winter. The relatives live near Phoenix, and the kids do swim stuff indoors. Hmm. Finally, one store had what she wanted.
On yet another note, ten or more years ago, I was in Costco looking for small propane cylinders. I asked an employee, and was told they only carried them “in season.” It was winter, “season” for me, but apparently the rest of the world uses them in the summer. Who knew? (Summer for camping, but I used to use them in winter to start fires when my kindling occasionally got damp.) Yeah, I am different, I guess.
Oh, on seasonality: “Buy straw hats in the winter.” Attributed to Russell Sage, a nineteenth century financier.
If required, I'd take the J&J vaccine before I would consider Moderna. Pfizer is off my personal list.
Why is Pfizer off your list ?
NBC Settles Nick Sandmann Lawsuit
“At this time I would like to release that NBC and I have reached a settlement.
The terms are confidential.”
https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/12/nbc-settles-nick-sandmann-lawsuit/
In other news, buttlube futures were up 5 points.
Nick to Kyle: "No, really. You have to sign these guys."
Well, didn't quite get finished. Controls guy bricked the controller. Got it back up but it took almost 3 hours and most of that on the phone with tech support. I just kept on keeping on with my stuff.
I'll be there Monday too to clean up and finish what I'm willing to do before next year.
Tired, sore, and thinking of an early bed.
Wife took the kids to get a tree while I was working. Pickin's were SLIM. Lowes had nothing for them, and Home Depot was picked over.
I'm glad they got <i>something</i>.
n
Yesterday I commented on some of the people I'd be giving money to rather than giving even a cent to allegedly charitable organizations. I forgot to mention podcasters, web sites, authors of free fiction, YouTubers, and other content creators. I'll get with my daughter this weekend and figure out who should get chunks. I need to make it a big pile because I listen to a lot of podcasts and read some free fiction and my daughter reads a lot and watches a lot of videos, and because it's probably six months since I sent anything to any creators; busy and didn't think of it.
Rick, on that topic, how's the funding pool for Daynotes's hosting? If you need it then I'll send a chunk. If not then I'll direct that chunk to any number of creators who make their living from supporters.
Effectiveness for the risk involved is lower than Moderna.
We don't donate as much as we probably should, but that's largely because a lot of the charities skim way too much off the top.
UMCOR (United Methodist Committee On Relief). 100% of donations go to either a specified event or their general fund for disbursement, your choice; all administrative costs are born by the separate United Methodist general budget. Our church serves as one of the storage points for the various disaster kits they disperse for local/regional disasters.
If you go to Orlando, support the folks at Gatorland by visiting the park.
Or buy a t-shirt online.
It isn't an act.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f59kvuywaJ0
They're really lucky this late.
We've had a tree for a couple of weeks but no lights inside or out. Busy.
If you go to Orlando, support the folks at Gatorland by visiting the park.
Or buy a t-shirt online.
It isn't an act.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f59kvuywaJ0
Look at them snappers !
from "Romancing The Stone" if you do not remember.
They're really lucky this late.
— yep, that's why I wanted to get one early, even if it sat in a bucket until the room was cleared…
n
I don't think it was as much about shortage as it seems like everyone wanted close the books out on 2021 yesterday.